Zuko's Redemption
by cutie.number.one
Summary: Zuko is a prince and has a nasty habit of getting what he wants but when marriage negotiations are on the table his life gets far more complicated. Katara is a common maid and just wants to be taken seriously. She'll do anything to overcome her station, even if it means making deals with a certain irritating prince. ZUTARA :Rating subject to change: sexual situations
1. Auction

**An: I'm pretty annoyed because my 1st chapter decided to delete after I spent hours at it but sure it's grand (I'm Irish) I'm not annoyed or anything. Please drop a review I'm really open to constructive criticism.**

 **Summary:** Zuko is a prince and has a nasty habit of getting what he wants but when marriage negotiations are on the table his life gets far more complicated. Katara is a common peasant and just wants to be taken seriously. She'll do anything to overcome her station, even if it means making deals with a certain irritating prince. ZUTARA (Rating subject to change)

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters (unfortunately), but I like to think I own the plot to this story

 **Ps** : I couldn't find the ages of the characters so I left that up to my interpretation.

* * *

 **Prelogue**

Katara was six.

She was only a young Waterbender.

But that didn't stop the Firebenders from taking away the women and children as slaves in the Fire Nation.

The men of the village had been missing in action since she was four. The oldest man left in the village was her own brother, Sokka, who had just turned nine.

"Katara, RUN!" He yelled.

That was her last memory before a pair of hot hands wrapped around her petite frame and her world descended to darkness.

* * *

When she awoke she was in an unfamiliar environment surrounded by people she didn't know.  
The room was small and cramped and looked as though at least 20 people slept in there if you counted the sleeping bags on the floor. There were no decorations in the room just small open windows at the top of the walls with clothes hanging out, probably to let them dry. It was warmer than at home.  
The people around her all had pale skin and dark eyes. They still hadn't noticed that she had woken up.

She sat up and quickly brought her hand up to her head only to feel a huge bump that wasn't there before.

"Don't touch it." She heard someone in the back of the room say.

Katara turned around.

"What happened?"

The woman walked towards her, slowly sat at her side and took her small hands in her own.

"The soldiers raided your village and brought you here. They weren't very careful mind you." She looked sadly at the young girl in front of her,  
"You are going to be staying here from now on, ok?"

Katara didn't understand that this was a turning point in her life.  
She didn't understand who this woman was and why she was saying all these weird things.  
She didn't understand that from this day on she would be training to be the perfect maid.

"I want Sokka." She said simply.

"Who's that sweetie?" The strange woman asked.

"My brother."

There was a moment of silence before the woman replied.

"Your brother is playing a big game of hide and seek, for the moment you can stay with all the girls here and when you're older we will go looking for him."  
She looked at Katara with tears in her eyes, "I'm so silly, I haven't even asked you your name."

"Katara"

"Well Katara, I'm Ishani. Why don't we go meet the girls and get you started on some small jobs."

Katara slowly rose from her sleeping mat and followed Ishani through the strange building.  
All around her women were running around making food, serving it, cleaning dishes, washing clothes and ordering people about. They all seemed between the ages of ten to eighteen.  
The smell of food wafting through the kitchen made her realize how hungry she really was, but she didn't want to get in the way so she just kept walking.

Ishani brought her through a series of different doors and passages but all Katara noticed was that there was no way outside for her to go and play.

Eventually they reached a room full of piles of unfolded green robes. The woman picked out the smallest pair she could find, that was still two sizes too big but Katara was not one to complain.

"Okay, here is your uniform" She handed her a pair of loose green trousers and a top that crossed over at the front secured tightly with a thick ribbon belt.

"You can run in the dressing room to get changed and then come back in here so I can give you your first task." Ishani smiled encouragingly to Katara pointing her in the right direction.

Katara took the uniform and toddled over to a small cubicle, once she closed the curtain she sat down on the wooden floor.  
This was the first time she had been alone.

She might have been young but she wasn't stupid.

She knew that Sokka wasn't playing a game of hide and seek.

All she could do was hope that he wasn't dead and that he had managed to escape the Fire nation soldiers.

She let a lone tear make its way down the side of her cheek.

As she put her uniform on more and more tears started to fall and by the time she was dressed she was having a full breakdown.

"Katara?" She heard Ishani call.

Footsteps neared the curtain.

"Katara I can hear you crying. Sweetie it's going to be okay. Life is just changing a bit but soon enough you'll be used to this. I know all this must be hard for you, and trust me when I tell you I know how you feel. Everyone here does. Just come out here and we will all help you. We can give you some work to distract you."

So many thoughts were going through Katara's head. So many things she couldn't understand.

Ishani heard the curtains open and turned to look at katara.

"Wow. look at you. Now come on and follow me back to the room where we got your uniform, I've got some folding for you to do."

* * *

 **8 years later**

Katara was now fourteen.

She was no longer the small child she was when she first arrived. She had grown to be a fine young lady with a good education as the women who took care of her wanted her to thrive amongst their community.

She was a fast learner so it didn't take long for her to get the hang of things.

To any man from the Water Tribes she would be pretty but to people from the Fire Nation she was exotic and that, was what made her so popular.

There was one thing about her that worried Ishani, her attitude.

Katara was one to stand up and rebel against what is wrong.  
Over the years she managed to create a mask that hid her emotions that she wore whenever there was injustice because she knew that a lowlife peasant like her would never be able to change anything from where her social status lay.

She had spent eight years training to be a personal maid and waiting to be bought at an auction, and this, was her first auction.

* * *

 _Katara POV_

* * *

I tied my hair up in a classic half up, half down making sure that my Water Tribe pearls were still tied in.  
I put on my normal green outfit, and made sure my mother's betrothal necklace is secured tightly on m upper arm where no one can see it.

As I'm about to walk out I stop and look at myself in the mirror.

"You better make it out of this shithole today. This is your chance. Don't screw it up by saying something stupid." I tell myself.

I walk through the door to where all the other women being auctioned off are standing.

I'm nervous.

Not for me.

For the girls around me.  
I have seen so many of them grow up the same way I have and I pray that none of them end up two doors down from where we are now. In the brothel.  
I can handle rowdy men but these girls deserve better.  
Best case scenario they are asked to work for the royal family or at least one held in high regard.

A large unpleasant man walks in and eyes us all from top to bottom.

"Let's see what we have here. Five girls being auctioned off never to see eachother again."

His eyes fall on me. He moves close enough that I can smell his fishy breath.

"You are a pretty one, may I ask for a backstory for when I'm selling you, just to add a bit of excitement."

I look at him directly in the eyes.  
His smile was enough to make my stomach sick.

"Your breath smells like a decaying body so please step back." I answer back.

His smile turns into a nasty smirk.

"Thanks for volunteering to go first." He said whilst forcefully grabbing my upper arm and dragging me behind him.

He dragged me through the front door where I was met by the sound of thirty men shouting. Some with approval and some with disgust.

I turn and look helplessly towards where I came from only to be greeted with the sight of the Auctioneer.

"I'm going to get you the right owner for that sharp tongue of yours and maybe then you will learn to respect your superiors." He whispered in my ear.

I face the crowd.

All eyes are on me.

Panic ensues.

'This isn't what I wanted.' I think to myself.

"The betting commences." I hear him say.

In my moment of weakness I do the one thing I do best.

I put on my mask of no emotions.

All the background noises zone out and all I see are hands going up raising the price. Overtime people stop raising their hands, probably because they don't want to waste their money on a peasant Water Tribe girl.  
After a few minutes there are only two people left.  
One that I know and I am praying it's not him.

The owner of the brothel is here and he's making the prices sky high.

I zone out.

'What if this is it?' I think.

'I have to get out of here.'

I look around, all of the exits are guarded by soldiers.

Correction,

All but the one that is nearest to the stage.

I make a split second decision and sprint towards the door.

There is no one in the way.

I'm almost there, almost free.

I hear the chairs screech as people try get up to block my path.

Nothing can stop me.

There are people yelling "Stop her!" and "Don't let her leave."

I finally reach the door.

"Ahhhhhhh." I scream as fire scorches my back,

I fall to the floor.

A strong pair of hands lifts me up and throws me back into the room. My lower back burns and I let tears fall out my eyes.

I feel someone helping me stand up and supporting me. They put on a chair and I just about make out their figure walking up to the fat man auctioning us.

"I'll take her for one-thousand gold pieces, no questions asked."

* * *

 **An:** You guys are not stupid you've probably figured out she's going to end up in the Fire Lord's Palace, but who do you think bought her at the auction?

Do you think the chapters should be longer or are they ok?

If you guys think this is shit please just tell me and I'll think of something new, I'm open to suggestions.

Also... **follow me**

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	2. First Impressions

**CHAPTER TWO**

 **an:** Hey guys I'm back and I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate the support and if any other writers want a shoutout hit me up!  
Thanks to nephereti, JakeKatie4ever ,ChelC121, Oracle, KataangvsZutara and alexaosornio94 for reviewing. I really like the support.

 **Summary:** Zuko is a prince and has a nasty habit of getting what he wants but when marriage negotiations are on the table his life gets far more complicated. Katara is a common peasant and just wants to be taken seriously. She'll do anything to overcome her station, even if it means making deals with a certain irritating prince. ZUTARA (Rating subject to change)

* * *

 _Zuko_

* * *

When Zuko was young, he loved being in control. He loved the power it gave him.

He loved the way that people looked at him with a mixture of fear and awe, and in particular, he loved how easily he could get people to do things for him. Wealth and power, what more could any adolescent boy want.

He could usually intimidate servants into doing what he wanted them to.

They were naturally submissive.

All he had to do was tell them what he wanted and they'd crumble.

The power drove him a little crazy, made him do stupid things, especially when Fire Lord Ozai was away.

His uncle was supposed to return from one of his trips today so he decided to wait for him in Iroh's office.  
He had been looking for trouble, when he discovered a girl, about his age maybe younger sitting alone inside the office.

He could tell she wasn't from around here, her skin was tanned and her hair was far too long for the Fire Nation customs.

 _'She is obviously a common water peasant.'_ he thought to himself as he noticed her robes were well made but bland, reflecting the simplicity of her position

 _'Why would she be by herself?'_ he wondered, but he didn't know and didn't really care.

"what are you doing?" He shouted trying his best to impersonate his father's voice.

She turned towards him slowly, keeping her gaze on the ground.

She never said anything.

"Alright peasant." Zuko spat out.  
"I'm going to say it again." He walked closer to her so that she was staring directly at his feet.  
"What are you doing here."

There was a moment of silence before she answered.

"Iv'e just been hired to help at your palace." She whispered, her voice parched as though she had been crying.

"Well then what are you doing in General Iroh's office." He answered menacingly

"He told me told me to wait."

"When is he coming back?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know."

"Where is he gone."

"he is gone to get some bandages." She answered quickly.

 _'Why would he need bandages is he hurt? Why would he leave the slave in his office?"_

He sneered, there weren't any Water Tribe servants at the palace, they preferred having women from the Earth Kingdom to keep it running, so he rarely got to observe one up close.

"Stand up." He demanded.

But she stayed put. Her eyes defying the order.

"I said, stand up!" He shouted this time.

She slowly stood and but couldn't help the wince that escaped her lips.

 _'So she's the one who's hurt.'_

"Look at me." He declared firmly, still standing in front of her.

She looked up slowly, fighting herself the whole way and the curtain of hair fell back to reveal her plain features marred by a violent red blush. She defiantly kept her eyes directed at his chin instead of making eye contact and Zuko catalogued every detail.

She had cool blue eyes, a delicate nose, a Cupid's bow mouth, long strands of thick, curly brown hair, a dark tan.

She was fascinating.

"Tell me your name." he ordered

"Katara, sir." Her voice trembled as she carefully avoided the challenge of eye contact.

He walked around her, intimidating her.

Only now he noticed the raging burn across her lower back, that only reminded him of the scar across his eye.

He took a step nearer to look at it closer and saw Katara's small frame stiffen.

The only noise that could be heard in the room was her quickened breathing.

"Zuko!" A friendly voice cut through the silence and his uncle stepped into the room.

He stopped once he saw the scene in front of front of him.  
His friendly demeanor suddenly gone.

"Prince Zuko you get away from that poor girl this instance, Tui help me you won't sit for a year." Iroh said his tone raised

He casually stepped away, one foot at a time, and the moment he was far enough away she promptly sat back down on the seat.  
Even as his uncle grabbed him by the ear and dragged him down the hall to be sternly talked to, he thought that it was definitely worth it.

* * *

 _Katara_

* * *

As soon as Prince Zuko left Katara let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. That was definitely in the top three worst moments of her life.

The so called 'Prince' was so intimidating it infuriated her.

That had been the only time she had ever truly felt lesser, standing in front of Zuko while the brat humiliated her, using his power against her.

People from either Water Tribe were rare and high in demand as the supposedly perfect slave.

She brought her hand behind her back and felt the burn.  
This wasn't her first one.

She had been seared by guards at the orphanage trying to get some extra food for the younger ones.

But this burn was bad.

Every time she moved she felt it.  
It was almost like a reminder of what could have been.

"I'm sorry for the delay, I had to have a quick chat with my nephew. I'm sorry that that was your first impression. Once you peel back the layers he is really not that bad. He's only sixteen he hasn't learned to see things the way I see them." Iroh said with a warm smile gracing his old features.

There was a silence in the room.

"Would you like some tea."

The truth was yes, she wanted tea, but the reality was that she should be the one serving his needs, not the other way around.

She politely shook her head to say no but he poured her a cup anyways.

"It's chamomile, my personal favorite." He said as he handed her the cup.

He looked at her for a while before he chose his words carefully.

"I'm sorry about what happened at the auction." He paused,  
"I brought some cream and a bandage for after."

"I will ask another of the maids to help you put it all on."

"Thank you." was all she managed to say.

"I'm so sorry that this is the life you must live, and I promise that I will try make this as easy as possible."

She stared at him blankly

 _'How many times have you promised that to someone, and how many times have you kept your promise.'_ She thought to herself.

She spent the next fifteen minutes listening to Iroh talk about his interesting tales of how hard it was being general.

All she could do was stare down at her half empty cup of chamomile tea.

"I think it's time to bring you to your sleeping area."

He stands up and I follow two steps behind.

We walk past two guards who smile at Iroh as he passes and into a room full of people.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared for a few seconds before quickly averting their gaze and focusing their attention elsewhere, or turning to the closest person and whispering.

Katara froze on the spot, _'What if they see my scar, I haven't changed out of my outfit since the auction.'_

 _'Too late'_ she thought as she saw Iroh hand the cream to another maid maybe sixteen years old, before promptly leaving.

"Hey." The girl called

Katara turns to face her, she has short, straight brown hair that was in a half up half down style, and sharp facial features.

"I'm Suki. General Iroh gave me some cream for a burn you got, he said you might need help putting it on."

"Hi." Katara answers, "Thanks for the offer. I think I'll manage the cream myself"

Suki looks at her with a hesitant look before handing me the cream with a smile.

"Have you had a chance to meet anyone yet?"

"Yeah, I saw the prince."

"I meant out of the people working here but, damn, what an unlucky way to start off your first day."

For the first time I let out a small chuckle.

 _'Well she's not wrong.'_ I thought.

"Well we are your family now, so let me introduce you to my friends."

She pointed to a small young girl with black hair and grey eyes with a green hair band who seemed to be making a snarky comment to one of the older boys.

"That's Toph, don't get on her bad side. The person she's talking to is Haru." Hearing their names the two of them looked in Katara's direction. All she could offer was a bleak smile.

"I don't know where Jet is, he normally works late in the stables for the extra pay."

"Your friends seem really nice." Katara say absentmindedly

"They are." She says proudly, "Speaking of nice, there are some people working here who are lacking." Suki points towards a group of girls.

"The one in the middle is Asha. She will do everything to make your life living hell just because she wants you to do her work. Don't let her push you around."

She quickly added, "But, don't get on her bad side because she is Azula's personal maid and gets along quite well with her. I would just stay away from interacting with her full stop."

"I'll bare that in mind." Katara answers.

"I'm sorry for not asking earlier but I didn't catch your name." Suki says with and encouraging smile.

"Oh, um, it's Katara."

"Wow, that's a really cool name. Where is it from?"

"Water Tribe."

"I've never met someone from the water Tribes. Is it nice there?"

"I can barely remember."

"So they took you at a young age." Suki says looking at Katara with a sad smile. "That's the same with me. I was born on Kyoshi Island. The Fire Nation attacked when I was seven. I haven't seen my family since."

She pauses

"I miss them everyday." She continues looking right through Katara as she spoke.

 _'So do I.'_ She thought to herself, _'So do I.'_

"Um, I'm gonna go and put the cream on my burns, would you be able to show me where I'm sleeping so I can go to bed after." She asks Suki to break the awkward silence.

"Yeah sure follow me."

On the way there she showed Katara where the kitchen, dining room, and showers were.

"Here's where your sleeping." Suki said whilst pointing to a mat on the floor.

"I know it's not much but it should do for now."

"It's fine." She replied, "I'm really tired anyway."

"Okay, well if you need anything you'll probably find me in the common room where we met."  
and with that Suki left.

Katara sat down on the mat. This was the first time she had been alone since before her run-in with the prince.  
She did a bad job at putting the cream on and an even worse job at putting the bandage on.

 _'It'll have to do.'_ She told herself.

She took of her clothes and slipped into what was left on her pillow.

She lay down and put her head to the hard pillow.

A fat tear rolls across her face making the blanket wet.

"Happy birthday Sokka." She whispers just loud enough for herself to hear.

* * *

 **an:** Sooooo what do you think. I'm going to try my hardest to keep this as a slow burner, so far so good

What do you think is going to happen.

Also I added Asha because I need someone to bring Katara's good side out.

 _ **Question for the reader**_ (I'M BORED SO ENTERTAIN ME PLEASE):  
Where are you from?

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